30 - Not Your Son, But Your Father
Episode 30
Rigen hoped that Maybia wouldn't be upset because of him.
"Oh, no! Not at all! It's just that I feel like I'm bothering Grand Duchess too much, yes, that's why!"
Rigen made excuses earnestly. Then, he wriggled his way onto the bed.
He thought that if he lay still, Maybia might worry less.
Rigen, who had slipped under the blanket, peeked out with only his eyes showing and looked at Maybia. To Maybia, he looked like a squirrel hoping for praise.
As Maybia sat on the edge of the bed, Rigen opened his mouth.
"Um, Grand Duchess."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Ah, it's nothing."
Maybia smiled lightly.
"Is there something you're curious about?"
Rigen hesitated. Maybia waited patiently.
The eight-year-old boy swallowed several times before speaking.
"How did you meet my father? I mean, Father rarely goes out..."
"Hmm, at first, we only knew each other through information written on paper. We met face-to-face at the Imperial Palace. Honestly, I didn't expect Edith to come all the way to the capital either."
It was hard for Rigen to understand.
He was just very amazed that Maybia called his father's name so casually.
The people of the North were largely divided into two categories when it came to Grand Duke Kalakis.
Worshipping him like a god.
Or fearing him intensely.
To the people, the Grand Duke was a very distant being.
"...Will Father come out tomorrow too?"
"I'll take responsibility and arrange it. But if you want to have a good time with your father, you need to feel better too, right?"
"Yes, yes! I'm perfectly fine!"
After the short conversation, an awkward silence fell as if they had been waiting for it.
Eventually, Maybia's lips formed a small triangle.
Rigen thought that perhaps Maybia was just as awkward in this situation as he was.
She didn't know children well and hadn't had many opportunities to get close to them, so she wasn't used to it.
But Maybia tried hard. She enthusiastically tried to win him over, mobilizing knowledge that she seemed to have vaguely picked up somewhere.
And Rigen could see that.
'When is the nanny coming...'
Just as the focus began to fade from his cherry-like eyes, Maybia suddenly asked.
"Young Master, do you like fairy tales? Shall I read you one?"
That day, Rigen had a nightmare.
* * *
After entrusting Rigen to his nanny, Mrs. Theresa, I went to find Edith alone.
He was in the room he had always used, which would now be our shared bedroom.
Of course, I had my own room as well.
Edith had given me an entire floor of the castle. Thanks to that, Sera also got a private room.
Cyclamen Castle had fewer servants than one would expect for the main castle where the head of the family resided. Perhaps it was because the scale was so large, but I felt a sense of emptiness whenever I walked through the corridors.
Only the essential personnel were stationed there, apart from the maids waiting to attend to me.
I could understand why the knights who had followed us to the capital were casually doubling as servants. It seemed everyone was used to taking care of odd jobs themselves.
I opened a door that was like a work of art and stepped into the bedroom where Edith was.
First, I stood by the door and carefully scanned the interior.
The ceiling was quite high above the floor. The jewel-encrusted fireplace was burning firewood diligently.
The thickly laid emerald carpet trapped the heat generated by the fireplace, preventing it from escaping.
The bedroom was decorated elegantly. The use of gold was minimized, and there was a lot of emerald, the symbol of eternity. An antique banner softly veiled the wide bed.
The desk, with its vivid wood grain, was filled with maps. At first glance, they were all unfamiliar terrains and place names.
And... just a sofa.
In fact, I didn't notice the design of the sofa at all.
Because Edith was sitting there.
His blue eyes, reminiscent of a deep sea where the bottom could not be seen, were constantly watching me.
The classic handsome man with long eyes looked like a god of the underworld or a demon of the earth.
As I seemed to have finished looking around the room, Edith opened his mouth.
"Is the observation over?"
"For now."
"Did I pass?"
The corners of Edith's lips lifted slightly. As if he knew exactly what I was wary of.
My impression was that the Grand Duke's bedroom was both splendid and elegant.
But somehow, I didn't think it fully reflected Edith's taste.
Still, there are no cat decorations. Very good.
"Yes, you passed."
I replied lightly and relaxed. As I moved my feet, Raven cried out, asking me to acknowledge him.
"Caw! Caw!"
Suddenly, I reflected on my naming sense.
Maximus, Isabel, Carolina.
The names of the cats in Cyclamen Castle were all grandiose, and Raven was just Raven.
The meaning of the name was just crow.
I pondered for a moment and said.
"From now on, your name is Raven Louis Bonaparte Caesar Hi..."
I was attaching everything that sounded impressive when Edith chuckled.
What, I'm serious.
"I know how to give a great name too."
"Of course, you would."
"...Caw?"
Raven tilted his head, stopping just before flying to me.
I could have sat next to Edith, but I pulled back the curtain veiling the bed.
As I sat on the edge of the soft bed, the fatigue I had been ignoring washed over me all at once.
It was definitely a tiring day. I had slept in luxury hotels every night, but I had been in a carriage all day, so my muscles felt all knotted up.
I should take a long bath tomorrow and get a full body massage.
"It's been a whole week since we've shared a bed. Didn't you miss me, Edith?"
Edith replaced his answer with a dry laugh. He still didn't seem to want to spend our first night together.
I fixed my gaze on a specific part of Edith and asked.
"You said last time that it would be difficult to have children due to your constitution. Is it completely impossible?"
Should I have checked when he was about to take off his pants?
I'm not a doctor, so it wouldn't have been very helpful.
"It is as I said."
"So, it's not impossible?"
"...Are you aware that your gaze is quite subtle right now, my Grand Duchess?"
I appropriately raised my gaze for my shy husband.
From the lower body to the upper body.
"I'm just wondering what to do in the future. Should I not take out the negligee I brought from the capital? Sera will be a little sad, but I'll comfort her."
"I never thought I'd say this in my life, but please look at my face, not my chest, Grand Duchess."
He was a husband who was both shy and had many demands.
I covered myself with the blanket, lay on my side, and looked at Edith's 'face'.
"You're not going to spend the night on the sofa, are you?"
"Probably."
"Then I'm tired, so I'll go to sleep first."
As soon as I said I was going to sleep, my eyelids became heavy.
I seemed to have fallen asleep as soon as I closed my eyes. When I vaguely woke up a while later, Edith was lying next to me, having moved at some point.
He really looked like a Demon King. Shockingly handsome, and his beauty was truly overwhelming.
Even if a hero passing by Esmeralda were to say, 'No?! That face is the face of a villain!' and defeat him, there would be nothing to say.
I have to take good care of him, what else can I do...
I mumbled, muttering to myself like a sleep talker, and fell asleep again.
The bedroom, where the darkness was thick, was peaceful.
* * *
"...Grand Duchess, did you get kicked out again?"
Sera asked as she greeted me, who had been kicked out by Edith early in the morning.
To be kicked out of the bedroom for hugging my husband in my sleep. I couldn't help but grumble.
But he had gently held me and brought me to Sera.
I decided to be generous and let it go.
I was sprawled out after getting a full body massage. It was snowing heavily outside the window, but it seemed like only I cared.
For example, the culprit who had decorated the inside of Cyclamen Castle with cats came to ask to see me through the head butler, as if heavy snow was an everyday occurrence.
I changed my clothes without delay and went to the room where Edith was.
I was thinking of asking if I could question him as the Grand Duchess about changing the castle's design without permission, but Edith made an unexpected suggestion.
"I will meet him with you."
I would be happy if he did. It would save me from having to engage in unnecessary power struggles.
"Aren't you being too active?"
"You're personally taking care of me, so I should at least be able to accept it."
He heard that yesterday. Was he not asleep?
"And I need to beat him up a bit so that you can relieve some stress."
Huh?
An ominous premonition crept over me.
While I was doubting the Count's character, the head butler brought the Count in.
Tolliman Elliot, the head of the Elliot family, had an impression that would have been more suited to palm trees and beaches.
His deliberately tanned bronze skin, broad shoulders, and reddish-brown hair made him look like he was from the South no matter how you looked at it.
Moreover, he was very young.
"Gasp! Star Lord!"
The Count, who was shocked to see Edith, rolled his eyes and quickly spewed out words.
"It's been so long! You're alive! You haven't grown any mold, have you? I firmly believed that you would come out someday! I didn't expect you to go to the capital and meet His Majesty the Emperor!"
...What is this tone, like a treacherous subject who has been caught committing corruption?
